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by Stacey Abbott (Author)
Twenty-first century film and television is overwhelmed with images of the undead. Vampires and zombies have often been seen as oppositional: one alluring, the other repellant; one seductive, the other infectious. With case studies of films like I Am Legend and 28 Days Later, as well as TV programmes like Angel and The Walking Dead, this book challenges these popular assumptions and reveals the increasing interconnection of undead genres. Exploring how the figure of the vampire has been infused with the language of science, disease and apocalypse, while the zombie text has increasingly been influenced by the trope of the 'reluctant' vampire, Stacey Abbott shows how both archetypes are actually two sides of the same undead coin. When considered together they present a dystopian, sometimes apocalyptic, vision of twenty-first century existence.
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'Stacey Abbott has long been a renowned expert on vampire cinema, as well as the fantasy worlds of Joss Whedon, and is a pioneer in establishing Horror TV in media and film studies. These fields come together in Undead Apocalypse, which authoritatively maps out a series of compelling contexts for the imbrication of vampires and zombies from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, via The Walking Dead, to the newly conscious zombies of recent years. The book will be a vital reference point for all scholars of horror but ought to catch lots of fans too with its welcoming, accessible style.' Roger Luckhurst, Birkbeck College, London Twenty-first-century film and television is overwhelmed with images of the undead. Vampires and zombies have often been seen as oppositional: one alluring, the other repellant; one seductive, the other infectious. With case studies of films like I Am Legend and 28 Days Later, as well as television programmes like Angel and The Walking Dead, this book challenges these popular assumptions and reveals the increasing interconnection of undead genres. Exploring how the figure of the vampire has been infused with the language of science, disease and apocalypse, while the zombie text has increasingly been influenced by the trope of the 'reluctant' vampire, Stacey Abbott shows how both archetypes are actually two sides of the same undead coin. When considered together they present a dystopian, sometimes apocalyptic, vision of twenty-first-century existence. Stacey Abbott is a film and television scholar at the University of Roehampton. Her research focuses on the horror genre and the gothic in film and television, with a particular specialism in both vampires and zombies. Cover image: Daybreakers, 2010 (c) Lionsgate/The Kobal Collection Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN (cover): 978-0-7486-9491-4 ISBN (PPC): 978-0-7486-9490-7 Barcode
Author Biography
Stacey Abbott is a Reader in Film and Television Studies at the University of Roehampton. Her research focuses on the horror genre and the gothic in film and television, with a particular specialism in both vampires and zombies.She is the author of Near Dark (2020), Undead Apocalypse (EUP, 2016), TV Horror (2013), Angel (2007) and Celluloid Vampires (2007). She is the editor of Global TV Horror (2021), TV Goes to Hell (2011) and The Cult TV Book (2010).
